New Study Shows Bipolar Drug Could Help Traumatic Brain Injuries

A drug used to treat bipolar disorder and other forms of depression may help to preserve brain function and prevent nerve cells from dying in people with a traumatic brain injury, according to new research.

In a study published in Scientific Reports, scientists from Rutgers University discovered that lithium, used as a mood stabilizer and to treat depression and bipolar disorder, and rapamycin, a treatment for some forms of cancer, protected nerve cells in the brain and stopped the chemical glutamate from sending signals to other cells and creating further brain cell damage.

“Many medications now used for those suffering with traumatic brain injury focus on treating the symptoms and stopping the pain instead of protecting any further damage from occurring,” said lead author Dr. Bonnie Firestein, a professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. “We wanted to find a drug that could protect the cells and keep them from dying.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and disability in the United States. About 30 percent of all deaths due to injury are due, in part, to a TBI.

The CDC reports that every day 153 people in the U.S. die from injuries that include a TBI. Children and older adults are at the highest risk, according to the CDC.

The symptoms of a TBI can include impaired thinking or memory, personality changes and depression, as well as vision and hearing problems.

When a TBI occurs, a violent blow to the head can result in the release of abnormally high concentrations of glutamate, which under normal circumstances is an important chemical for learning and memory, Firestein said. But an overproduction of glutamate causes toxicity, which leads to cell damage and death, she noted.

In the new study, scientists discovered that when these two FDA-approved medications were added to damaged cell cultures in the laboratory, the glutamate was not able to send messages between nerve cells. This stopped cell damage and death, Firestein said.

Further research needs to be done in animals and humans to determine if these drugs could help prevent brain damage and nerve cell death in humans after a traumatic brain injury, she noted.

“The most common traumatic brain injury that people deal with every day is concussion, which affects thousands of children each year,” said Firestein. “Concussions are often hard to diagnose in children because they are not as vocal, which is why it is critical to find drugs that work to prevent long-term damage.”

The Rutgers research was funded by a three-year grant from the New Jersey Commission on Brain Injury Research.

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Janice Wood

Janice Wood is a long-time writer and editor who began working at a daily newspaper before graduating from college. She has worked at a variety of newspapers, magazines and websites, covering everything from aviation to finance to healthcare.